Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos
Food forms the principal theme of this essay. The study investigates whether or not symbolic activities connected with the procurement of food, cooking, rituals, etiquette and restrictions around food, as well as table manners, reinforce gender identities in a society undergoing significant transfor...
| Auteur principal: | |
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| Format: | Online |
| Langue: | espagnol |
| Éditeur: |
El Colegio de México
2015
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| Sujets: | |
| Accès en ligne: | https://estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx/index.php/eaa/article/view/2044 |
| Institution: |
Estudios de Asia y África |
| authentication_code | dc |
|---|---|
| _version_ | 1853489268394033152 |
| author | Aguilar Escobedo, María Guadalupe |
| author_facet | Aguilar Escobedo, María Guadalupe |
| author_sort | Aguilar Escobedo, María Guadalupe |
| category_str_mv |
"Bolivia", "hyperinflation", "economic crisis", "Bolivia", "hiperinflación", "crisis económica"
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| collection | OJS |
| description | Food forms the principal theme of this essay. The study investigates whether or not symbolic activities connected with the procurement of food, cooking, rituals, etiquette and restrictions around food, as well as table manners, reinforce gender identities in a society undergoing significant transformation. The essay incorporates material from fieldwork done in the summer of 2010 in different markets of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and the wider metropolitan area. The arguments of the essay are based on observation and interviews, ten in-depth interviews in particular, conducted in 2010.The essay is divided into three parts: the first deals with the market as a space that provides food and household income. The market is a social space of exchange, a space where men and women have very different and clearly demarcated tasks. It is also a space for micro-credit and barter. Women work primarily as fish or vegetable vendors in the market. They leave their homes to earn a livelihood, which is often the primary source of income to feed the family. When even the last option of selling at a loss fails, women exchange their ware with one another or take back their products for consumption within the family. When they cannot make ends meet, women borrow money from their suppliers, to be reimbursed with the sale of the day.The second part of the essay examines the role played by men and women in cooking; the distinct connotations of everyday dishes infused with a colonial past, and religious and social values that also have specific ritual purposes. The social imaginary portrays a supplier and a woman who transforms the ingredients, one well aware of the religious rituals linked to Islam, her ethnic group, and her position in the family. In a situation where polygamy and the existence of shared spaces constitute the norm, different women manage the kitchen, each one with their own marked out area, utensils and distinctive dishes. In the kitchen, affiliate relationships with other family members are strengthened or rejected. The possession of a robust body signifies being loved and cared for in Senegalese society. Husbands, therefore, cannot refuse to eat the food prepared by their wives because it would be taken as an insult and occasion a fight.The final section of the paper describes the space designated as “table”, and the rules and symbols that apply when food is shared at the table. Here, men and women sit together or separately, depending on the occasion. The table provides the best space for hospitality where important meals are shared during ceremonies and also during the day. The shared dish embodies many imaginary lines that set the norms for the way the dish has to be consumed. The food is served in a plate and each diner knows the por-tion that corresponds to him/her and the others invited. In addition to the fact that the portion assigned to the guest sitting next is not touched, beef, chicken or fish and vegetables, laid out at the center of the plate, are reserved for “the mother” to distribute them. The “mother” gets her name and assumed role on account of the fact that she takes care of the nutrition and wellbeing of the family, often from the infancy of its members. Although it is true that a rising standard of living and changes in lifestyle are occasioning important changes in the lives of the people of Dakar who are adopting other modes to display social status, the importance of the market, cooking and sharing of food as markers of social status are far from disappearing. |
| format | Online |
| id | oai:oai.estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx:article-2044 |
| index_str_mv | CONAHCYT LATINDEX PKP Index DOAJ DORA Redalyc Scielo México CLASE Handbook of Latin American Studies (HLAS) JSTOR Dialnet Sociological Abstracts EBSCO Host HELA Scopus Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory CIRC CSA Worldwide Political Science Abstracts Google Scholar Historical Abstracts MLA Biblat Current Abstracts Elektronische Zeitschriftenbibliothek Frei zugängliche Emerging Sources Citation Index de Web of Science Scielo Citation Index (Web of Science) Gale OneFile: Informe Académico Journal Scholar Metrics (EC3 Research Group: Evaluación de la Ciencia y la Comunicación Científica. Universidad de Granada) Article First CARHUS Plus de la Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca (AGAUR) Index Islamicus InfoTracCustom Matriu d’Infomació per l’Avaluació de Revistas (MIAR) Open access digital library. Colorado Alliance of Research Libraries Political Science Complete PubMed SocINDEX SocINDEX with Full Text TOC Premier Fondo Aleph. Biblioteca Virtual de Ciencias Sociales HEAL-Link Hellenic Academic Libraries Link Índice bibliográfico Publindex LatinREV. Red latinoamericana de revistas LINGMEX. Bibliografía lingüística de México desde 1970 Portal de Periódicos de la Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES/MEC) SCImago Journal & Country Rank BACON (Base de Connaissance Nationale) Bibliography of Asian Studies (Online) Latin America & Iberia Database Social Science Database Social Science Premium Collection Sistema integrado de Bibliotecas (USP) ProQuest Central ProQuest Central Student Poetry & Short Story Reference Center MLA Directory of Periodicals MLA International Bibliography |
| journal | Estudios de Asia y África |
| language | spa |
| publishDate | 2015 |
| publisher | El Colegio de México |
| record_format | ojs |
| Terms_governing_use_and_reproduction_note | Derechos de autor 2015 Estudios de Asia y África |
| data_source_entry/ISSN | Estudios de Asia y África; Vol. 50, No. 3 (158), September-December, 2015; 679 - 700 Estudios de Asia y África; Vol. 50, núm. 3 (158), septiembre-diciembre, 2015; 679 - 700 2448-654X 0185-0164 |
| spelling | oai:oai.estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx:article-20442025-09-01T18:19:10Z Dakar: From the Market to the Kitchen and the Table. Food, Relationships and Symbols Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos Aguilar Escobedo, María Guadalupe gender family food markets food practices symbols género familia mercados de comida prácticas en la cocina símbolos Food forms the principal theme of this essay. The study investigates whether or not symbolic activities connected with the procurement of food, cooking, rituals, etiquette and restrictions around food, as well as table manners, reinforce gender identities in a society undergoing significant transformation. The essay incorporates material from fieldwork done in the summer of 2010 in different markets of Dakar, the capital of Senegal, and the wider metropolitan area. The arguments of the essay are based on observation and interviews, ten in-depth interviews in particular, conducted in 2010.The essay is divided into three parts: the first deals with the market as a space that provides food and household income. The market is a social space of exchange, a space where men and women have very different and clearly demarcated tasks. It is also a space for micro-credit and barter. Women work primarily as fish or vegetable vendors in the market. They leave their homes to earn a livelihood, which is often the primary source of income to feed the family. When even the last option of selling at a loss fails, women exchange their ware with one another or take back their products for consumption within the family. When they cannot make ends meet, women borrow money from their suppliers, to be reimbursed with the sale of the day.The second part of the essay examines the role played by men and women in cooking; the distinct connotations of everyday dishes infused with a colonial past, and religious and social values that also have specific ritual purposes. The social imaginary portrays a supplier and a woman who transforms the ingredients, one well aware of the religious rituals linked to Islam, her ethnic group, and her position in the family. In a situation where polygamy and the existence of shared spaces constitute the norm, different women manage the kitchen, each one with their own marked out area, utensils and distinctive dishes. In the kitchen, affiliate relationships with other family members are strengthened or rejected. The possession of a robust body signifies being loved and cared for in Senegalese society. Husbands, therefore, cannot refuse to eat the food prepared by their wives because it would be taken as an insult and occasion a fight.The final section of the paper describes the space designated as “table”, and the rules and symbols that apply when food is shared at the table. Here, men and women sit together or separately, depending on the occasion. The table provides the best space for hospitality where important meals are shared during ceremonies and also during the day. The shared dish embodies many imaginary lines that set the norms for the way the dish has to be consumed. The food is served in a plate and each diner knows the por-tion that corresponds to him/her and the others invited. In addition to the fact that the portion assigned to the guest sitting next is not touched, beef, chicken or fish and vegetables, laid out at the center of the plate, are reserved for “the mother” to distribute them. The “mother” gets her name and assumed role on account of the fact that she takes care of the nutrition and wellbeing of the family, often from the infancy of its members. Although it is true that a rising standard of living and changes in lifestyle are occasioning important changes in the lives of the people of Dakar who are adopting other modes to display social status, the importance of the market, cooking and sharing of food as markers of social status are far from disappearing. La alimentación es el tema principal de este artículo. Se pretende mostrar cómo las actividades simbólicas ligadas a la adquisición de la comida, a su preparación, sus rituales, restricciones y etiqueta, fortalecen o debilitan las identidades de género en torno de la mesa, en una sociedad con dificultades y cambios constantes. Esta investigación incluye un trabajo de campo realizado en el verano de 2010 en mercados de la capital senegalesa (Dakar) y zona metropolitana. Esta investigación cualitativa está fundamentada en la observación y recopila una decena de testimonios obtenidos a través de diversas entrevistas en profundidad. El artículo se divide en tres partes; la primera aborda al mercado como el lugar de insumos y de ingresos familiares. El mercado es un espacio social de intercambio, de trabajo sexual diferenciado, de microcrédito y trueque. Allí las mujeres, en su mayoría, se dedican a la venta del pescado o de verduras. Salen de sus hogares para generar un ingreso, el cual en general destinan a la alimentación de la familia. Si la venta a pérdida como última opción no funciona, entonces intercambian con otras mujeres los productos o llevan los suyos a casa, para la manutención de la familia. En caso de dificultad, solicitan préstamos a los proveedores, los cuales reembolsan con su venta del día. La segunda parte se refiere al papel de hombres y mujeres al momento de cocinar, el significado de los platillos cotidianos impregnados de un pasado colonial, religioso y social, que incluyen rituales específicos. En el imaginario social existe un proveedor y una mujer transformadora, conocedora de los rituales religiosos, ligados al islam, a su grupo étnico y a su posición en la familia. Si bien la poligamia y la existencia de espacios en común son recurrentes, la cocina es administrada por diferentes mujeres, rectoras de su propio espacio, utensilios y comida. En la cocina se entretejen las relaciones de afiliación con otros miembros de la familia o el rechazo tajante. En la sociedad senegalesa, tener un cuerpo robusto es poseer un cúmulo de cuidados y de amor; los esposos no pueden negarse a comer la comida de sus esposas porque este acto sería un desaire y riña seguros. Finalmente, la tercera parte describe el espacio designado como mesa, sus reglas y sus símbolos al momento de compartir la comida. En este espacio, hombres y mujeres son incorporados, juntos o separados; la mesa es el espacio de hospitalidad en el que se sirven las comidas más importantes del día o de celebración. El plato compartido encarna muchas líneas imaginarias que norman la manera como el platillo ha de ser consumido. La comida es servida en un platón y cada comensal sabe que a cada una de las personas invitadas le corresponde una porción. Además de que la porción asignada al vecino no debe ser tocada, la distribución de la carne, el pollo o el pescado y las verduras, ubicados al centro del platón, le corresponde a “la madre”, quien toma su nombre y asume su rol a raíz del hecho de que se encarga de la nutrición y el bienestar de la familia, generalmente desde la infancia de sus miembros. El costo y el ritmo de vida están llevando a cambios a los capitalinos y poco a poco surgen otras formas de mostrar un estatus social; sin embargo, la importancia del mercado, de cocinar y de compartir los alimentos dista de desaparecer. El Colegio de México 2015-09-01 info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion application/pdf application/xml https://estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx/index.php/eaa/article/view/2044 10.24201/eaa.v50i3.2044 Estudios de Asia y África; Vol. 50, No. 3 (158), September-December, 2015; 679 - 700 Estudios de Asia y África; Vol. 50, núm. 3 (158), septiembre-diciembre, 2015; 679 - 700 2448-654X 0185-0164 spa https://estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx/index.php/eaa/article/view/2044/2044 https://estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx/index.php/eaa/article/view/2044/2278 Derechos de autor 2015 Estudios de Asia y África |
| spellingShingle | gender family food markets food practices symbols género familia mercados de comida prácticas en la cocina símbolos Aguilar Escobedo, María Guadalupe Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos |
| title | Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos |
| title_alt | Dakar: From the Market to the Kitchen and the Table. Food, Relationships and Symbols |
| title_full | Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos |
| title_fullStr | Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos |
| title_full_unstemmed | Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos |
| title_short | Dakar: del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa. La comida, sus relaciones y sus símbolos |
| title_sort | dakar del mercado a la cocina y a la mesa la comida sus relaciones y sus simbolos |
| topic | gender family food markets food practices symbols género familia mercados de comida prácticas en la cocina símbolos |
| topic_facet | gender family food markets food practices symbols género familia mercados de comida prácticas en la cocina símbolos |
| url | https://estudiosdeasiayafrica.colmex.mx/index.php/eaa/article/view/2044 |
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